The Second Time Around
by Aoikoorikaze
Summary: After the Wedding!


The Second Time Around   
One-Shot   
  


_Love is lovelier the second time around..._

"Mmmmph..." Dorothy mumbled into her pillow that day, and then a weak groan escaped her mouth. "I don't feel good." 

A small head covered with brown on top popped up from one of the doorway's sides. Shiine could only see his teacher's back as she pretended to be still sleeping. 

"I heard that, Miss Dorothy...are you alright?" he asked politely. "It's almost noon; both your breakfast and lunch are waiting for you downstairs." 

"I really don't care right now, Shiine dear," she told him weakly, still not facing her. She knew she was a mess, and she didn't dare let anybody know that.

"If you're not going to eat then, Teacher, shall I keep the food in the fridge now?" 

"...Not yet dear... maybe I'll eat later..." 

"Okay," Shiine answered. "I'm going to Teacher Se--" 

Before the young apprentice could continue with another syllable, he found himself face to face with his teacher, gagged with her magic. He tried his best not to grimace at the rage her face reflected upon him, knowing that things within a radius of hundred feet or more would inevitably blow up, him included.

Forgetting that the tight cloth around his mouth still hindered his speech, he instinctively began an apology, but failed. All he got was the even uglier face Dorothy had.

She was not supposed to get out of bed when in anyone else's sight. But all she was aware of right now was that somebody had spoken the _forbidden_ word inside her castle. Her body almost seemed to glow red from her fury. 

"Listen," a torrid voice that no one ever heard before escaped from her dry lips. "No one...NOT ANY ONE of the creatures living within MY castle shall DARE defy MY rules." 

Each word became an ice knife that pierced into his flesh, leaving deep burning pains -- in spite of its supposed temperature. Shiine gulped down whatever saliva he had, along with the lump that grew in his throat, with great urgency. Right at that second he felt like it was the only thing essential for his life to continue.

"AND MY RULE IS, NO ONE WILL MENTION _HIS_ NAME AGAIN!" 

The poor student fainted to the floor in great fear and exhaustion. From outside, one could see the tips of the mountain which cradled the castle were starting to give way. 

Recovering a few minutes after, he let out a tiny reply. "Yes, Teacher." 

But Dorothy wasn't satisfied yet. "From now on, you SHALL NOT call me Teacher. I will be _MISS_ DOROTHY, nothing more!" 

His voice still faltered. "Y-yes-ss... M-mi-miss-s D-doro-th-thy-yyy..." He struggled to stand up straight, but could not overcome the force that came with her sermon. Certainly full blast.

Silence filled the room, following the increasing brightness and heat, however subtle, of the midday sun. It brought along even more hurt than the voice, as psychological influences stand victorious in torturing the body -- particularly awkwardness. The poor apprentice never did get used to such scenes, for he always pushes such memories away and keeps in mind the good times he spends with his second mother. Such a good boy... and at the same time so unfortunate to be ill treated by such a witch.

The stillness of everything apparently calmed her down also, as she began to instruct him further in a more modulated voice. "I could have bade you not ever to go back to that..."

Both her voice and eyes trailed off to the blue-filled view outside, and with that tasteless liquid he had to digest uselessly came the realization that he had to become more careful with his words from now on. A single move could mean his extermination, and though it sounded hard to believe, there was nothing any male -- not even a full-grown man -- in the whole universe, could do about it. Even the gods, for they would not allow any kind of intervention for such problems of the mortal world.

"I understand," Shiine respectfully complied, still with the futile effort to gather his shattered behavior all over the place. This was definitely the day he didn't want to wake up to, and it made his experience with her less destructive-in-all-aspects-of-the-body temper as small as the diaper pin that pricked him occasionally in his early childhood years. And when he thought that he had graduated from his making-Teacher-I-mean-Miss-Dorothy-mad phase, things just got worse. His foster mother, though she did not act like one this time, was mostly likely growing backwards...  


  
  


"But shouldn't that be good for Miss Dorothy and for Teacher Seravi?" Cha-cha asked him as the trio rested under the shade of an apple tree. He told his two best friends everything that happened to him today as soon as they left the cottage in the afternoon for a casual walk in the countryside.

His sensibility did have an extent to which he could decipher neither her naiveness nor her silly ideas anymore. "What do you mean?" 

Riiya, who joined Shiine and Cha-cha just now in their soft spot on the grass after having picked five ripe apples from the tree, answered for her with an equal amount of reason, "Dorothy would grow backwards to the little girl with golden locks and a pleasing attitude." 

Cha-cha nodded, considering his reply the most intelligent conclusion she had ever heard. "You read my mind! And Teacher Seravi would not tease her again, and they'll get married for good!" 

He had lost too much strength to injure even the smallest cell of each in spite of his irritation. _The things I have to suffer just to be a good boy._ He could only remind them that people did not grow backwards, and what he said was just some kind of joke.

"Why do you react the wrong way whenever I say something?" 

Both shrugged at the same time.

Shiine sighed. Gathering what he thought was the last of his strengths that allowed him to stay alive, he shouted out to the heavens, hoping that the higher deities would take pity of his miserable life. "WHERE ARE MY BEST FRIENDS WHEN I NEED THEM THE MOST?" 

After his so-called melodrama he passed out.

Cha-cha's face flushed, worried about her friend. She started to shake him all over to bring him back to consciousness. "Shiine, what's happening to you?" 

"I thought you didn't care about me anymore," he said unenthusiastically still after having awakened, although quite surprised he that his soul had not left his body yet.

She wore a more caring face, one that Shiine became thankful for because she had it on. "We were just trying to cheer you up, Shiine." 

"Thanks but, no thanks," he said with two hands waving in front of him. "I'm more worried about Tea... I mean Miss Dorothy and Teacher Seravi." 

"I'm worried too. Will they ever speak to each other again?" 

The high-pitched voice of Elizabeth started to give them advice from out of nowhere, much to their surprise. "I'm sure that her hot head will cool down soon." 

The three exclaimed in shock as they turned around. "Teacher Seravi!" 

"Why didn't you greet Elizabeth?" was his reply, contrary to what they were expecting to hear. 

Cha-cha took it as a very good joke, but Shiine became even more depressed. Riiya was caught in the middle of their feelings. Seeing one of her best friends not in the same mood as she was, her laughter died down and later put a warm hand on his left shoulder. "Oh Shiine..." 

"Shiine, I hope you won't mind if I have to remind you this is only between Dorothy and me," Cha-cha's teacher told him. Both their faces were as serious as ever, but the other was painted with part question and part protest. "We know how much you worry about what's happening around you, but I believe it would be best for you to let me solve this problem." 

He continued with an incredible degree of solemnity which surpassed his attitude when they encountered serious situations, and if physical appearance were not to be counted, the three of them who now listened to his words would not recognize him as the Teacher Seravi they have met not too long ago. "It is my sole responsibility to restore the relationship the two of us had originally shared." 

Shiine's thoughts commanded him to protest. "Relationship? You and Miss Dorothy fought and teased each other everyday! You call that a relationship?" 

The raw, innocent surprise could be seen clearly in the akazukin's eyes, as she watched a raging Shiine walk away from the apple tree plucked of all its fruit. 

"Teacher Seravi..." The uneasiness on Cha-cha's face didn't look good on her at all. "...where is Shiine going?" 

"Can you bake apple pie with all that I picked, Seravi?" Riiya asked him. 

Seravi's face dropped all the weight of his worries, and for once agreed with the wolf dog. "That's a good idea, Riiya! Why don't we head to the cottage right now?" 

Elizabeth agreed with him. "It is getting late." 

"B-bu-but-t..." 

"Don't worry about Shiine," he assured his student. "I'm sure he's alright." 

Reluctantly, she followed the two males home.  


  
  


Before Seravi could take a step outside, he found himself looking down at a boy sitting on the doorstep. However, he wasn't surprised; he knew Shiine would sooner or later show up near the cottage. His knew his present situation with Dorothy, without having to listen in on the children's conversation that afternoon, was not too good. Still, even if he hadn't eavesdropped on the three friends, he could more or less tell how things would go between the witch and the apprentice. Knowing her the character of her temper, he thought at once that Shiine wouldn't like to go back to the castle where Dorothy might have been rampaging for the rest of the afternoon.

"I knew you would be here," Seravi said to him before he could open his mouth. His voice was neither soothing nor scolding. 

Shiine took a shot at asking the magician something as soon as the latter finished his sentence, but could not. 

Seravi was able to read his mind, nevertheless. "You're always welcome to stay with us, Shiine." 

"How did you know?" he asked with surprise. He stood up and wondered for the moment if his eyes could meet his at the same level. Unfortunately it didn't; Seravi was much taller than he was.

He looked down at the golden-haired doll in his arms, which seemed not to mind their conversation. Remembering his earlier thoughts, he spoke to him even further. "Just as Dorothy knows you as her very own son, I do too. She has spent more than enough time with me to know exactly what kind of a child you have grown up to be." 

"What do you mean, Teacher Seravi?" he asked, his eyes narrowing a little. "How can you be familiar with what I am like just by being with Miss Dorothy?" 

"I know her very well... and I have known her enough to see what kind of son her child could be in what was then the future..." 

A very heavy air of sadness filled the dark-blue-and-silver night. Shiine kept silent, and he could not figure out a way to continue the conversation except with the addressing of his name. 

"Teacher Seravi..."

With a few more seconds of hesitation, he finally put sense into his words. "...I'm so sorry I had to bring the thought up. It was very inconsiderate and insensitive of me to--"

"--It is I who must ask forgiveness from you, first of all," Seravi cut him off in the gentlest way. The threatening air did not wish to leave them, and was the most likely cause for their softened voices. 

"...before I apologize to the rest of the people who attended the failed wedding. You, as a young gentleman, have an extremely sensitive heart, and are affected by situations the most frequently. As a consequence of fate, too, you have been affixed between Dorothy and me, therefore what you experience becomes even worse. I have the greatest gratitude for you, you who have worried the most about Dorothy, and you who are willing to endure all the unfavorable outcomes of all these events. It is I who must be suffering the most, for it is I who caused all this." 

The awestruck boy was stolen of his tongue. 

"Most of all, thank you for taking care of Dorothy..." 

Taking a step on the grass that was slowly getting moist, he looked up the heavens. Shiine went after him, a growing eagerness in his face.

"...I haven't told anyone about this..." 

"But I do love her."  


  
  


"I'm really happy for the two of them," Cha-cha said with a smile, bouncing up and down on the bed. Her pet bird flew up and down with her.

"Yeah, they're going to get married again soon... and we'll have a party with all that great food again!" Riiya cheered. 

"Uh... that too, Riiya," the little girl tried to agree with him as she sweatdropped. 

Shiine was still dazed, even if he had brought up enough courage to speak to them about this. _They are my best friends, and I'm always free to confide with them when I have problems. _

Cha-cha noticed the look on his face, then waved her hands in front of him along with all sorts of gestures. "Shiine? Are you still with us?" 

He snapped back. "Huh? Yeah..." 

"What's your problem?" Riiya asked him. The bedroom suddenly looked bigger to him when the two fell silent. "Why? Aren't Seravi and Dorothy getting married already?" 

"Right now we have no idea," Shiine answered after taking in a considerable amount of air, probably the same air of sadness he breathed in with Seravi. He was, after all, the person who owned and made his house, and it would be pretty sensible to think that the cottage carried his sentiments too. 

"And why not?" Riiya asked, the so-called courage in him protested. 

"Miss Dorothy isn't in the mood to accept any visitors, especially Teacher Seravi." Cha-cha answered sadly, trying to picture what chaos could occur should her teacher come near Dorothy's castle. Chiiky chirped after her, sounding as depressed as she was.

"Yes... and it would be really difficult for Teacher Seravi to ask forgiveness," Shiine told them with a worried sigh. "I hope nothing goes wrong between the two of them." 

"What he told me earlier tonight made me think that they were meant for each other, and all they have to do is put aside their arguments for a while, and the next thing we know is they'll have a new baby!" 

His friend smiled. "That's the spirit, Shiine!" 

"I feel much better now..." he thought aloud. "...and I think I'm looking forward to what tomorrow's news may bring." 

"Then tomorrow's the wedding then?" 

He ignored blue-haired boy's naiveness, and rested on the pillows. "Hopefully."

Riiya transformed into a wolf, and cuddled up to Cha-cha, his sapphire eyes as large as ever. "Then I'll have a good night's sleep dreaming about chicken!" 

Cha-cha followed along. "And cake!" 

"Cheep!" Chiiky followed along. 

"And icicles!" Shiine followed. He decided to forget his worries even before he might start to have nightmares about them. 

"Do they serve icicles in weddings?" she asked skeptically. 

"Cheep-cheep?!" 

"I just feel like licking a really big icicle right now, that's all." 

"But they should give lollipops in tomorrow's wedding." 

"Cheep!" 

Feeling good enough to cast a spell, Shiine sat straight on the bed and put his arms forward. "Icicles, materialize!"

The three were caught in the midst of huge ice stalactites jutted out from nowhere. This time the room looked smaller than ever. Chiiky could only twitter in fear.  


  
  


From the dining table, Seravi could almost imagine everything that was going in the room just by listening to their voices, and Chiiky's noise. The night that brought the sad air to the cottage also brought the most blood-curdling silence each time they paused. He heard each word they said as soon as they stepped into the room.

"Turn off that torch now or you're going to get us all toasted up! " Shiine yelled. 

He proceeded to his room, and laid Elizabeth on his bed. 

"I must be on my way now, Elizabeth," he told her quietly. "Time is against me, but I must mend the heartache I have caused against Dorothy." 

"Good night, Riiya, Shiine," Cha-cha told them. 

"Night, Cha-cha," they both answered. 

"Good night Chiiky!" 

"Cheep!" 

"We'll fix the room tomorrow...mmm... yawn..." Shiine mumbled, then pulled the blanket. 

"Forgive me for bothering you to come into my life. Forgive me for having chosen you as my instrument for making her envious. Forgive me for having been incapable of realizing that only an immature and selfish scoundrel would have thought of and chosen to do such a thing. Forgive me for giving you only that place in my life. Forgive me for using you..." 

"Hey! You took MY third of the blanket!" 

Seravi had wanted her to raise his esteem right now, when things were at its turning point, but she chose not to. It was an answer, as wordless as it may be, to him. At that moment he had ceased the existence of the image of the little girl he dreamed of marrying one day, and moved on to the reality of it all. 

"Goodbye Elizabeth," he whispered in a tone that tried to control mixed emotions. "I pray that Cha-cha would take care of you well. And wish all the luck... for Dorothy and me." 

In a second he transported her to Cha-cha's side -- the doll was officially hers now. But she and the pink bird slept soundly, oblivious of both the boys' ruckus and the doll's presence. 

Making his way outside, Seravi summoned his broom and sped away to Urizuri Mountain.  


  
  


Dorothy could not sleep. The silver light seemed to purposely pour through her bedroom window with great intensity just to impede her from closing her eyes. And though the curtains danced in all directions with the soft moving air to filter the moon's reflection from the sun, they simply couldn't succeed in aiding her. Somehow she felt that even the littlest of details, such as the full moon shining down on her precisely that night, were all woven into each other carefully. _Heaven had planned all this, I just know it..._

Her temper got the best of her that morning, and the irritability lasted only for the rest of the time the sun was up. As darkness started to creep slowly around her, she felt better -- but only from a relative point of comparison. She kept on pondering how and why things came to be as they were, right then and there, and the sorrow in her heart replaced the hatred and fierceness she woke up with. 

"Poor Shiine..." she said to herself, as a wave of surprise passed through her. The two words seemed too loud and too lonely for the stillness of the night, but she was bothered about how she treated the young magician that morning. 

If her pride had not influenced her actions completely, she would still have had the nerve to walk up to the cottage door and ask about Shiine. _But I didn't. Because I cannot bear to see the sight of that... that magician! Shiine is probably worried about me up to this time in the night, and it's all his fault..._

"...All his fault..." 

Suddenly the images of the two of them together randomly flashed through her mind with great speed, although she understood each unsaid word and each soundless gesture all at once. As she came back to full consciousness, she was looking straight at her closet door, and the connection of the two places she was in a few seconds ago and afterwards struck her... 

Her vision was already leading her the way to the countless memories she had experienced throughout the many years of her life. Seravi's face disappeared from her head for the moment as she walked to the large storage space she hid all her innermost feelings and secrets in. 

The hinge creaked during the whole time it swung open, as she breathed in a different scent -- a mothball-ridden one, Dorothy noted instantly, but she was not bothered at all. _If this is all that could keep me from swimming in all the large sea of wonderful emotions that I once felt, then it's definitely a bargain... _

"And mothballs do smell good sometimes," she said to herself as she looked down on the neatly arranged assortment of trinkets, gifts, and other whatnots she remembered him by. With the slightest touch, she could feel the exact moment that occurred in her life which had something to do with that object. The long and lazy days that made up weeks, months, and years in her past felt like they disappeared from her life as she had to go on with each new situation she faced. _They didn't leave me,_ she realized, _but they just waited patiently for me to find it in my heart to be with them..._

Dorothy felt almost weightless. Walking for a few more steps she returned to her bedroom, in front of the wide array of books she collected throughout the years. She slowly brought the old diary close to her thumping heart, from the midst of paperbacks and hardbound ones. A bitter smile spread across her lips, which parted and spoke to the lifeless object. She turned its pages to reveal her distinct cursive handwriting, reading each story she had to tell of yesterday. "Where have you been, my dear diary? Where have you been when I wanted you to comfort me? Where were you when my heart was being torn to pieces by Seravi?" 

_Seravi._

Her heart started to beat even faster. The poor organ did its best to recover from neurological torture that had commanded it to respond to her recognition of his name, but could only flush the rest of its owner's parts of the blood they needed. Her head started to throb, and she couldn't see straight. 

Not bothering to battle with her senses, she collapsed onto a cushioned armchair near her full-length mirror. The smooth surface glistened quickly as tears silently rolled down her warmed cheeks. 

"Seravi..." she said under her breath, amongst successive sniffs.  


  
  


He was there the whole time, watching. In the midst of all darkness opposing the light shining on her. The thin line that had been drawn between the two of them -- between light and darkness -- he dared not cross. Silent as the night could ever be, he stood still, waiting for the right moment. 

It was extremely difficult for him to endure the visual pain she never knew she could bring upon him, in addition to the regret and remorse he carried even before he arrived at the castle. But he kept assuring himself that rewards of his suffering would be worth it.

_And Dorothy is more than the worth of all my pain._

All he could do was watch. Watch her cry over all the ache he caused her. Watch her cry over their miserable fights. Watch her cry over him...  


  
  


From the corner of her eye appeared what looked like an emulsion of white and green on the mirror. Jerkily she stood up to meet the person she least wanted to be with that night. 

Out of the stirred feelings that had once found peace deep in her heart, only to be resurrected with violence again, she only managed to say a few words before becoming completely mute.

"Get out of my house, Seravi," she told him in a fit of anger, having recovered from delirium. "before you get hurt." 

Making sure he had safely locked up his arrogance and vanity in an emotional prison out on the sea, he gave himself a few seconds to plan his response very carefully. 

He took a few steps closer to her, his initial move to impart a more personal message towards her, but her eyes growled in warning not to come any closer, as the most rabid dog would. 

His fist tightened, but his calm eyes rested upon her without fail. Her wide, dull-violet ones gradually lost their raging fire, and soon she found herself staring at him neutrally. 

Both transformed into statues looking steadily at each other's eyes, but they could still feel the icy mist moving through them. 

He had wanted to start explaining himself, but she started to let tears out silently. There she remained non-moving in spite of the liquid's motion down her face.

He immediately opened his mouth to speak. 

"I am sorry... Dorothy..."

She gave a gentle but sad laugh...in all irony. She shut her eyes; tears did not stop trickling down, nevertheless. She shook her head in great disappointment and hurt. 

"It's too late to say that, Seravi. You already broke my heart..." 

"Am I not capable of mending it too?" 

Tears could not stop her from focusing her eyes on his. She wanted him to feel the pain she felt as she spoke. "The truth is I understand you perfectly well, Seravi. You... and your motive, which you have dreamed of becoming a reality before we went on our separate ways, only to meet again. But I simply cannot accept you when all you want... is my hair." 

Opening his mouth only to close it again, he listened further.

"Maybe you _did_ love me _only_ because of my golden hair... " 

He moved closer to her, taking her into his arms as she fell into them weakly. "No, Dorothy..." His eyes filled with protest, longing and concern. And his need to console her.

Her head hung low, near the warmth of his upper body, and felt the violent beating of his heart. Her silent weeping had not stopped; and it only worsened. She looked up to him sadly and asked, "Then why? Why did you want to marry me?" 

"Maybe I _did_ want your hair more desperately than anything else you could think of. Because I thought I had lost the sweet Dorothy that came with that blonde hair... But now I realize that I love you more than that, and I can't bear to be away from you anymore. More than what you can ever conceive in your mind. I truly do... for all that you are... for all that you have been, and for all that you will be--" 

She looked up to him with a glance that questioned his words. 

"--But... how? ...How will I know that you _do_ love me?" 

Everything became silent, but she waited. She wanted an answer, and time could not hamper her wishes of finding out what it was. 

"Just by this..." 

His words were brief, as simple as the gesture she felt on her lips. Yet it was sweeter than any brewed nectar the gods and goddesses had ever sampled, and they surely would be enraged upon discovering that they weren't offered the finest drink in the land. But only love could conjure such taste of a unique heaven, a place far greater than where the highest immortals dwell. 

The world stopped as they were drowned in each other's gaze, and everything else blurred away from their vision. It was fate, destiny, that had commanded the two of them to be one...  


  
  


"...In sickness and in health... for better or worse..." 

The night did not seem to end for the couple as they found themselves in each others arms in the cathedral, but when the surreal background in which they had stood for no less than eternity cleared into the gleeful faces that wished all the goodwill in the Native land, they were reminded of the time that passed by. 

Dorothy's violet eyes shined up to Seravi's green ones, devoting onto him all the words in the world she had wanted to, but could not say. He smiled back sweetly in understanding, for what seemed like the first time to her. But he _did_ understand her since the very moment their eyes met, many years back... and so did Dorothy, even when all they did was stage wars against each other.

"I do." both answered, their voices intertwining like a sweet melody -- two songbirds that matched each other's timbre had finally found each other. But everyone else except the two of them knew that he and Dorothy stood by each other's backs -- fighting and teasing each other to no end -- and all they needed was to turn around, and face each other. 

"I now pronounce you... man and wife." 

The large audience cheered and clapped in gaiety. The long wait was over, and there was no stopping them this time. 

  
  
Owari!   
  
**lengthy post script**   
· is this better than roses? cuz this is the actual after the wedding response thingie ky asked for... roses was my share of the job when mia and i agreed to switch topics   
was playing rk songs for inspiration   
· dedicated to anna [her sweetness], elfreeko [his present lovelife ], villa [her loving support - you deserve a sole dedication, i'm sorry you had to share this with others], mia [from whom i caught this fic-writing syndrome], and cris [with all her teasing, i've definitely been inspired!] but truly, only the night could give me such thoughts i can make for a fic; that's why i'm not up till 1:30 pm the next day   
· i could write a dozen different situations as ending for the series in the seravi-dorothy perspective, but i won't! maybe, when i figure things out, you might just read a 'choose your own after the wedding' ·  
· ooc-ness: i think mothballs smell good. i don't know about dorothy... 


End file.
